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Sunday, November 19, 2006

A confederacy of dunces

From the Associated Press, Nov. 16, 2006 (italics mine):

"The [US's] Roman Catholic bishops adopted new guidelines for gay outreach Tuesday that are meant to be welcoming, while also telling gays to be celibate since the church considers their sexuality 'disordered.'

"The statement, 'Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination,' was adopted by a 194-37 vote, with one abstention, at a meeting of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

"The guidelines condemn discrimination against gays and says it's not a sin to be attracted to someone of the same sex--only to act on those feelings.

"Under the guidelines, parishes are instructed to help Catholics avoid the 'lifestyle and values of a "gay subculture"'. Gays also are discouraged from telling anyone about their sexual orientation outside of a close circle of friends and supporters in the church...

"Presenting the gay ministry document at a meeting, [Paterson, N.J. bishop and chairman of the bishops' doctrine committee Arthur] Serratelli said, 'The tone of the document is positive, pastoral and welcoming. Its starting point is the intrinsic human dignity of every person and God's love for every person."

17 comments:

"Gays also are discouraged from telling anyone about their sexual orientation outside of a close circle of friends and supporters in the church..." - So the church is now encouraging gays to be "closet gays"? Funny...

come, now. calm down. take a deep breath. what i am interested with is the 37 votes against the statement. what were they opposing: the entire statement? the "it's not a sin to be attracted" part? the "it's a sin only to act on those feelings" part? the "discouraged from telling anyone about their sexual orientaton" part? in a way, this is good because it opens up the debate again, with the church in the defensive side, because of these "offensive" statements. baby steps. this is after all a 2000-yr old institution. 50 yrs ago, there'd probably not one vote against such statements. 37 is not bad. baby steps...

hmmm.. sobrang apektado! having a view different from your own doesn't make them idiots (masyadong harsh), hehe! be glad.. they're now beginning to accept and understand their (some bishops)sexual orientation!

The leaders of the Catholic Church know how much power their guidelines carry... they should be more cautious in using this power. Even if they are just "expressing their opinion" they should also take into consideration that their opinion may be against the rights of other people to express their true selves.

I just f*cked a priest! Yes a priest, a Franciscan!!! we met through Friendster (please don't curse Friendster) and we've been exchanging messages, we talk every night over the phone, and finally he decided to buy me a ticket so i can go to Mindanao where he was assigned for a month - Muslim and Christian dialogue exposure. It was an all expense paid trip courtesy of YOU guys - the one you give to the church heheheh(thanks nga pala ha?) We went to Camiguin and visited his 'dre, another Padre who proposed to him to be his lover. He is now sooooo in love with me.

He even admitted that seminarians are like...90% gays...he had caught lots of seminarians doing it in the toilet.

Wen he was still in the seminary, he did it with another seminarian IN THE CONFESSION BOX!!!

Hay naku, on the one hand I'm glad they comdemn discrimination against gays and lesbians. On the other I really find it head-scratching that: [1] they still try to distinguish between homosexuals and homosexual acts; [2] they discourage gays from coming out except to friends, supporters and the church. Heller to death!

ey SNGLGUY, really funny for me. to take guidance from people who know next to nothing about sex--the healthy kind, the one that happens between consenting, often intimately connected adults--is quite an anomaly for me. and i was a seminarian for six years! :)

hehe, ALAN ha, nagamit mo na naman ang signature statement mo!

ey BEEKTUR, that's assuming that the dissenters were against the document because they found it too oppressive, illogical, backward, etc. but what if, on the contrary, they found it actually too liberal? you never know with these people. :)

hehe, si MANDAYA, na-imbierna! :)

ey SWIPE, yes, some of them must have fainted every now and then while they were discussing how open-minded they should sound in the document! :)

LEWIS, next time you better have me approve your comment first. i nearly fell off my monobloc chair when i read your confession! :) i should direct you to a better site where your dainty details can be put to better use. MIGS, meet LEWIS! :)

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